25 May 2004 -- The U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has said that corruption is spreading through Kazakhstan like "cancer" and can be cured only by "the cleansing tide of democracy."

Speaking today in Almaty, Stephan Minikes said the "cancer of corruption" is "eating" the country.

He said that as long as corruption prevails in Kazakhstan, Kazakhs will not enjoy "the full fruits of democracy."

Minikes' remarks come as a U.S. court is preparing the trial of a U.S. businessman accused of bribing Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev with more than $60 million.